Unitary washroom



Oct. 24, 1961 M. J. BREEN UNITARY WASHROOM Filed neo. 22, 1959 2Sheets--Sheei'I l FIG. l

/NVE N 7' OP MA UIP/C E BPEEN QZ www PATENT AGENT Oct. 24, 1961 FiledDec. 22, 1959 M. J. BREEN UNITARY WASI-[ROOM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l2 r-a 2/o\ 40 /Vff 66 V/O so K I FIG. 3

NVENTOP MAUR/CE BPEEN PATENT AGENT United States Patent 3,005,205UNITARY WASHROOM Maurice J. Breen, 115 30th St., Toronto 14, Ontario,`Canada Filed Dec. 22, 1959., Ser. No. 861,331 3 Claims. (Cl. 4-1) pThis invention relates to washroom assemblies suitable forprefabrication.

In summer cottages and in settlements remote from cities, one of themain problems of construction is the provision of toilet and/or washroomfacilities.

It is an object of this invention to provide a washroom `and/or toiletdesign wherein the fixtures may be united in a unitary construction witha septic tank, the design being adapted to prefabrication methods. Theprefabricated unit may thus be shipped in completed form to cottage orremote areas ready for installation without the necessity for providingat the installation, a septic tank excavation or construction. Thelatter feature is a very material advantage since the terrain at thewashroom site may be quite unsuitable for construction or excavation.The unitary construction of this invention may be merely taken to thesite, set on the ground without substructure and connected for use.

It is an object of this invention to provide a washroom and/or toiletunit including a` septic tank wherein the unit may be prefabricated andused either as a `building in itself or as part of a larger building.

It is an object of thisiinvention to provide a septic tank of a largeplan area and small height whereby the tank may be placed below thewashroom, without unduly increasing the height of the latter.

In drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention:

FIGURE 1 isa perspective of a unit in accord with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross-section of the unit; and

FIGURE -3 is a horizontal cross-section through the septic tank of theunit.

In the drawings: a septic tank is defined by end walls 10, side walls12, bottom wall 14 and top wall 16. The septic tank so defined isshallow so that the height is considerably less than the width andlength.

Walls dene a habitable washroom enclosure over the septic tank includingend walls 18 and side walls 20 which walls preferably extend along theprojected planes of tank walls and 12 respectively. A top wall 22 forthe washroom joins the upper edges of washroom walls 18 and 20 to forman enclosed washroom.

Since the washroom and septic tank are a unit the walls of one will berigidly connected to the walls of the other. It is therefore immaterialwhether corresponding end walls 10 and 18 (or side walls 12 and 20) areseparate sheets rigidly joined (as shown) or whether the correspondingwalls are integral so that a single wall member extends from the ybottomof the septic tank to the top of the washroom. The latter constructionwill in some in stances be easier of manufacture.

Since top wall 16 of the septic tank separates the habitable washroomenclosure from the septic tank which together form a unit, it will inthe disclosure and claims be also referred to as an intermediate wall.

In the construction shown, the top wall 16 of the septic tank forms thestructural floor of the washroom although the upper surface thereof maybe ornamented, tiled or painted as desired.

In the washroom are the normal fixtures, toilet bowl 24, tank 26 forbowl, sink 28, shower 30 and also there may be a hot water tank 32 forheating the water for sink and shower.

'I'he toilet bowl 24 is rigidly mounted on the wall or me 3,005,205 1C@Patented oct. 24, 1961 oor 16 and contains `the normaltrap 34.. The trapoutlet opens directly through an aperture in wall 16 into the septictank.

The sink 28 is mounted on one of the walls and the drain is connectedthrough a trap 36 to the septic tank.

The shower 30 has its drain opening 38 in the wall 16, hence the lowersurface of wall 16 surrounding opening 38 is provided with a pipe 40provided with a trap connection before opening into the septic tank.

Thus it will be seen that the outlet connection for each washroomelement of the unit, namely: toilet, sink and shower, is provided with atrap which prevents any escape of oensive odours from the septic tank tothe habitable washroom enclosure. In the case of sink and toilet thesetraps are above wall 16 and in the case of the shower the trap is belowwall 16.

A pump 42 is connected to an inlet line 44 which extends out throughwall 16, the septic tank and wall 14 to the outside ofthe unit to awater supply. Running the inlet line 44 through the septic tank allowsheat exchange to take place between the material in the septic tank andthe incoming water and therefore to heat, to some extend, the incomingwater. The pump 42 supplies through conventional connections (not shown)cold water for the heating tank 32, sink 2S and shower 30 and toiletbowl tank 26. The hot water tank is connected by conventionalconnections (not shown) to the sink 28 and shower 30 for the supply ofhot water thereto.

Electrical leads 46 are provided for the heating supply for the hotwater tank and for a switch and lighting fixture for the washroom, andare connected thereto by connections (not shown.)

The septic tank is supplied with an outlet 48 in one end wall 10adjacent the bottom wall 14 and a first, preferably semicircular, bailewall 50 joins the end wall 10 on each side of the opening and extendsabout the opening, and vertically from the bottom wall to a top edge 52a very short distance generally (about 11/z) from the top of the tank.Thus the only communication between the tank proper and the outlet isover the top edge 52 of the wall 50. A second preferably semicircularbaffle wall 56 joins the end wall 10 on each side of the first bafflewall 50 and extends about the rst wall and vertically from a bottom edge58 predetermined distance above the bottomwall to .a top edge 60 a shortdistance from the top of the tank. The top edge 60 of the second bafflewall is slightly higher than the top edge 52 of the first.

The spacing of the two baille walls 50 and 56 from top wall 16 of thetank, allows air circulation over the bailes.

The height of the top edge 52 of rst baffle wall 50 sets the level ofthe liquid and solid in the tank and ensures that the maximum proportionof the tank may be used to contain liquid and solid material. Thisdesign allows the liquid level to approach much closer to the top of thetank than when an upper outlet from the tank is used. Such outlets are3-4" in diameter and the level of liquid in the tank is therefore lup tothe lowest part of the outlet opening or 3-4" from the top. The heightdifferential between the Aupper edges 52 and 60 of the inner and outerbaille walls 50 and 56 prevents the normal flow of liquid over the outerbaie wall 56 but forces it to ow thereunder.

The lower edge 58 of the second baflle wall 56 is at a height -to allowliquid as opposed to solid to flow there under. Solid excrement andother Waste will not mix with the liquid but will iloat to the top orsink to the bottom, leaving the central vertical portion of the tankmaterial liquid. The lower portion of the rst baille wall 50 traps thesunken solids while the second bae wall 56 extends upwardly to trap thelioating solids. The lower edge of the second bale wall 56 is at aheight to allow the central liquid of the tank to dow thereunder, up,over 3 the top edge 52 of the first bae wall 50 and out the outlet 48.

The solids aerobically react after a time to become inoffensive materialof a common specific :gravity with the liquid and can then ltravel awaywith it over the escape route just indicated.

Although the advantages of the lower septic tank opening lin.combination with the bae walls have ybeen deiined, the terrain on which`the unit isplaced will sometimes make it more convenient to useaconventional upper outlet .62 also shown. Normally however the loweroutlet will be used allowing the upper outlet to be closed and-theheretofore described-advantages to accrue.

A pair of bafes 64 and 66 take the form of walls extending parallel tokend walls to divide the septic tank into three roughly equal sections.The bafiies 64 and 66 extend from bottom wall 14 to top Wall 16 andrespectively from opposed walls 12 but respectively stop short ofopposite walls 12 to provide ka tortuous path for the solids from thetoilet as shown. The toilet 24 is placed at the opposite end of the tanktrom the outlet 48 so that the material must travel about both baesbefore reaching the outlet 48 and is thus given a maximum time to reactbefore reaching the outlet.

Cleaning ports 70 and 72 are provided in opposed side walls 12 oppositeeach space between a baffle 64 and 66 respectively and a wall 12 toallow cleaning in each case on each side of the adjacent bathe.

An air vent conduit 68 extends upwardly from the air space in the septictank through wall 16, the washroom enclosure and wall 2210 be open tothe atmosphere. F or convenience the lower portion of the air ventout-let 68 forms .the outlet for sink 28.

Although the septic tank shown is of rectilinear shape with end walls10, side walls 12 and top and bottom walls 14 and 16 mutuallyperpendicular andv joined at the edges, it will be obvious that one ormore of such edges could be eliminated by a rounded design wherein oneor more of the walls contiguously extends into another.

Heretofore it had been-thought that septic tanks had to be deep andnarrow, that is the height must be the longest dimension but v.it hasnow been found that with the construction describedit is possible toprovide a shallow tank wherein height is the shortest dimension. Thisallows the construction of the unit whereby the septic tank adds veryslightly to the height of the bathroom unit and vallows a compact unitto be produced which may if desired be simply set on top of the ground.

There has thus been produced, a compact unit combining washroom andseptic tank which may be used internally as part of a larger structureor may form its own separate structure. The unit is thus suitable forprefabrication and shipping to cottage or remote installations. Theelectric leads, the'water inlet, extend out through the exterior wallsfor easy connection to the available electric and water supplies. Thewater outlet may be connected to any drainage line.

I claim:

l. A washroomconstruction comprising: a septic tank delined by top,bottom and side walls, the upper dening wall of said tank being thestructural floor of the habitable portion Vof said washroom, meansallowing continual discharge from said tank while maintaining liquid insaid tan'k at a predetermined level, a toilet bowl rigidly attached toand located above said upper defining wall ,and having an outletconnected to said tank through said upper defining wall, means wherebywater may be supplied to said toilet bowl, means for flushing saidtoilet bowl and at least one port allowing the removal of materials fromsaid septic tank.

2. A washroom construction as claimed in claim 1 where said means forsupplying water to said water bowl extends through said septic tank.

3. A washroom comprising side, end, top and `bottom walls, anintermediate -wall parallel to said bottom wall attached to said sideand end wal-ls delining with them and with said bottom wall a septictank, means allowing continual discharge from said tank whilemaintaining liquid in said tank at a predetermined level and definingwith said side and end walls andsaid top wall a habitable washroom, atoilet lbowl including a trap attached tothe upper side of saidintermediate Wall, means connecting the outlet of said trap to saidseptic tank, meansfor supplying vflush water t-o said bowl and forushing said bowl, and means for the removal of material vfrom said tank.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,281,528 Davis Oct. 15, 1918 1,958,055 Linnmann May 8, 1934 2,131,124Smith Sept. 27, 1938 2,514,230I Feazel July 4, V1950 FOREIGN PATENTS367,721 lFrance Sept. 13, 1906

